1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a covering and protector for existing rain gutters and roof-lines. More particularly, the invention relates to a gutter cover for closing the top of the gutter to prevent the gutter from becoming clogged by leaves and other debris. A further aspect of the invention is a double "S" shaped clip which facilitates the installation of the invention to existing gutters.
2. Description of the Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,575 issued Aug. 23, 1994, (the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference) describes a rain gutter assembly which is configured to form a closed top surface which is mounted so that it is downwardly slanted to an arcuate surface directing the water downward to an apertured portion containing a number of apertures each with a flap for directing rain into the surface of the gutter in a manner similar to that shown in Carey, U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,110. However other types of collectors may be utilized with these roof-line protectors containing one row of apertures such as shown in Kuhn's U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,798, or Foster's U.S. Pat. No. 3,388,555 containing three or more rows of apertures.
Directly beneath the aperture openings in the vertical 35 planes is a solid wall with a minimum height of 1/16". This solid wall may be provided with occasional slits or openings therein for passing uncollected water into the gutter. A flange portion extending from the bottom edge of the wall interfits beneath the upper lip of the front wall of the existing gutter and serves both to close the gutter at its front wall and to provide a surface for fastening the invention to the existing gutter with tapping screws. The preferred method of affixing the flange to the gutter is to attach the gutter to the underside of the gutter lip thereby providing a pathway for any water which bypasses the apertures to then enter the gutter through inherent openings between the flange and the top lip of the gutter.
Although this method of attachment works in collecting all the residual water missed by the apertured openings, the installation of the protector on existing gutters is often a difficult, time consuming and laborious task which often results in workers receiving lacerations to their hands while they attempt to interfit one protector over the next. Often times the spikes used as gutter fasteners are installed tight to the underside of the upper lip of the gutter making it extremely difficult and physically dangerous to slide the flange of the protector in between the spike and the underside of the gutter lip. Simply mounting the interfitting flange on top of the gutter lip would cause the residual water missed by the apertures to run over the front wall of the existing gutter leading to unsightly staining.
This method of attachment of the protector flange to the underside of the gutter lip is also ineffective in collecting any water that may fall onto the upper lip of the gutter itself which depending on the slant of the lip will either drain toward the collector or the front wall of the gutter and down said wall. Thus, unless the front lip of the gutter is slanted a certain way, there is no way of directing this water into the gutter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,798 issued Dec. 5, 1995, (the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference) describes a rain gutter assembly which is configured to form a closed top surface which is mounted so that it is downwardly slanted to a rounded corner. The assembly then extends vertically downwardly forming a front wall having a plurality of specially configured apertures herein. Each aperture includes a generally inwardly and downwardly extending flap provided along the top edge of the aperture for receiving and directing rain water into the gutter. The assembly then extends horizontally to connect to a substantially horizontal flange that is designed to interfit with a lip on a conventional rain gutter. The flange is attached intermittently by fasteners, such as sheet metal screws. The flange may be attached to either the top or the underside to the lip. Alternatively, the flange may be snap fit against the lip forming a seal between the lip and the flange.
To facilitate collecting any rain water that is not directed into the gutter by the flaps, the gutter cover contains a plurality of secondary apertures. The secondary apertures are located at a point where the vertical portion meets the flange, e.g., along the lower edge of the vertical portion. Each secondary aperture is partially formed in the vertical portion and partially formed in the flange. To direct the rain water into the rain gutter, each aperture contains a flap connected to the bottom edge of each aperture i.e., the primary apertures contain primary flaps and the secondary apertures contain secondary flaps. Thus, through surface adhesion, the rain water which is not directed into the gutter by the primary apertures will be directed into the gutter by the secondary apertures
Although the secondary flaps effectively collect any residual water from the primary collector and direct it into the gutter, the invention is not practical to manufacture in that sharp edges protrude from the secondary flaps which can cause physical harm to the installer and the sharp edges from the secondary flaps make it extremely difficult to stack and pack the product for shipment. The protectors must be packed individually resulting in higher packing and shipping costs.
Another problem that is incurred in all the aforementioned art is that one must be skilled in the use of self tapping screws to affix the protectors to the gutter.